All posts tagged: Sony

Sony has introduced a new flagship SLT using the company’s A mount, breathing some new life into a system that many thought was finished. The new a99 ll will be a full-frame camera that features a 42-million-pixel sensor, and which will be capable to shooting at an incredible 12fps at full resolution. The company has developed a new hybrid AF system that combines 399 on-sensor contrast detection points with a standard phase detection system that features 79 cross type sensors. The result, Sony says, is a system that is both fast and accurate, which covers a very wide area of the viewfinder and which can operate at brightness levels of -4EV. The sensor in use is a newly developed unit that uses backlit technology to maximise the amount of light getting to the pixels and which replaces aluminium wiring with copper to speed up transmission and to enhance the camera’s ability to move data. The maximum ISO speed will be 102400, and the in-body 5-axis IS system will offer up to 4.5-stops of stabilisation. The …

Sony A7 Mark II series The year 2015 saw the arrival of Sony’s full Mark II A7 fleet, adding five-axis full-frame sensor stabilisation to the mirrorless ILC. While the 42-megapixel A7R II [below left] is now acknowledged as the top of the range, the first update, the A7 II (24-megapixels), also improved autofocus, body design, sealing and shutter life. Its on-sensor, phase-detection AF works with many adapted Sony A-mount and Canon EF lenses. The second update (A7R to A7R II) moved from 36- to 42-megapixels with a new shutter and 4k video direct to SDXC card, plus a larger electronic viewfinder (0.78×). The backside-illuminated CMOS sensor allows first curtain electronic and silent shutter modes while curing rangefinder wide-angle colour shading and smearing. The final upgrade, the A7S II, kept 12-megapixels and moonlight-friendly ISO 409,600, while adding the advances of the A7R II and 14-bit uncompressed raw. Finally, Sony gave this to the A7 II/A7R II by a firmware upgrade. www.sony.co.uk Leica Q If you are looking for an absolutely first-class compact camera that will produce results …

The latest addition to the Sony lens stable is the Zeiss 16-35mm f/4 full-frame wide-angle zoom (with a 35mm-equivalent focal length, when attached to an APS-C body). Unveiled at a press conference this afternoon at Photokina, the Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS (SEL1635Z) lens is compatible with E-mount cameras and camcorders. The lens, which has been optimised for use with the A7 range of full-frame cameras, sits alongside Sony’s existing SEL2470Z zoom and SEL70200G telephoto zoom optics. Featuring five aspherical lens elements, the new lens, which comes with in-built image stabilisation, is able to achieve “outstanding corner-to-corner resolution and sharpness”, says the company, while also reducing distortion and keeping colour aberration to a minimum. The T* coating – a feature of Zeiss lenses – minimises flare and ghosting, boosting contrast, claims Sony. The Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS (SEL1635Z) full-frame wide-angle zoom lens is available to pre-order now from www.sony.co.uk. It will be on general sale in Europe from November 2014. Stay up to date with stories such as this, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

New from Syrp, a New Zealand-based company specialising in affordable film equipment for DSLR cameras, is the Magic Carpet Camera Slider + Motion Control for achieving smooth tracking slider shots. With high precision ball bearing rollers, a counter weight roller for vertical shots, and quick release adjustable legs, the Magic Carpet tracking slider retails at $300 (UK price not available.) [bjp_ad_slot]The company, which is looking to crossover from the video market into photography, has also released a variable ND filter that limits the amount of light entering the lens by f/1-8.5 stops. Aimed at photographers and filmmakers, the ND filter kits are available in small (67mm) and large (82mm), and are priced $139 and $189. Domke bags have been a particular favourite of photojournalists for nearly 40 years, thanks largely to their discreet, functional, no-nonsense approach to design. Now comes the ‘New Generation’, available across the Journalist, Metropolitan, Viewfinder and Adventure series, using a newly developed component storage system made up of of pockets, patches and pouches, and further scope to tailor the bags to your individual needs. Full details, specifications and US-only pricing here. Kenro …

A completely revamped autofocus system is the standout feature of Sony’s update of its a77 camera, which now boasts 79 AF points, including 15 cross points within the central area of the sensor. [bjp_ad_slot] That number makes it the leading phase-detection AF system available in terms of focus points, says Sony, but it’s the sophisticated new focus-tracking system that will prove the biggest draw for some, particularly if you shoot sports or wildlife, or even street photography. Thanks to the accuracy of the AF system, which includes a dedicated f/2.8 point placed horizontally in the centre, the a77 II is much improved in low-light situations (as low as EV-2 at ISO100), and a new AF algorithm “that has been fine-tuned in extensive field tests”, along with Sony’s Translucent Mirror Technology, makes its predictive subject tracking incredibly responsive (assuming independent tests replicate yesterday’s demonstrations at the European press launch in central London). “With approximately 2x wider coverage area than the previous a77 model, it outpaces the AF capabilities of many professional cameras,” claims Sony. “This predicts the …

Sony has beefed up its line of full-frame compact cameras after the R1X and R1XR with the release of two E-mount compact interchangeable lens cameras – the A7 and A7R. Both new models offer a full-frame Exmor CMOS sensor, with the A7 fitted with 24.3 megapixels, while the A7R uses a 36.4-megapixel sensor that has been designed to offer better low-light performances. “It features a new ‘gapless’ on-chip lens design, which eliminates gaps between adjacent pixels,” says Sony. “These advances increase light collection efficiency, achieving outstanding resolution, sensitivity and low noise while circumventing the challenge of decreased pixel size due to the extremely high pixel count.” The A7R also doesn’t use an optical low-pass filter. [bjp_ad_slot] The A7 and A7R share the same Bionz X image processing engine, which is said to “maximise detail and reduce image noise over a wide ISO 100-25600 sensitivity range – expandable down to ISO 50 and up to ISO 51,200 with Multi-Frame Noise Reduction”. The A7 uses an enhanced Fast Hybrid autofocus system that “combines speedy phase detection AF with …